Benthic Habitat of Molokai Derived From IKONOS and Quick Bird Satellite Imagery, 2004-2006

This project is a cooperative effort between the National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, the University of Hawaii, BAE Systems Spectral Solutions and Analytical Laboratories of Hawaii, LLC. The goal of the work was to map the coral reef habitats of the Main Eight Hawaiian Islands by visual interpretation and manual delineation of IKONOS and Quick Bird satellite imagery.A two tiered habitat classification system was tested and implemented in this work. It integrates geomorphologic reef structure and biological cover into a single scheme and subsets each into detail. It also includes fourteen zones.

The National Ocean Service is conducting a map production effort to digitally map biotic resources and coordinate a long-term monitoring program that can detect and predict change in U.S. coral reefs, and their associated habitats and biological communities.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) intends to publish this data on CD-ROM. NCCOS Biogeography Branch does not guarantee the accuracy of the geographic features or attributes. Please see the metadata records for each data set for complete information on the source, limitations, and proper use.

Contact NOAA for distribution options (see Distributor).;

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Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 1; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.0.0.535

This GIS polygon product was generated from a subset of fourteen image bundles which, when combined, constitute approximately 85% of the Main Eight Hawaiian Islands. A statistical analysis that generates a Tau statistic was conducted. The Tau statistic for the major classes of structure and cover is 0.971 and 0.908 respectively. The Tau statistic for detailed structure and cover classes is 0.891 and 0.827 respectively.

RMS from digitized output was determined using the ESRI RMEer2 extension and shown to be <1m for this work.

BAE Systems acquired, processed and delivered ortho-rectified imagery to Analytical Laboratories of Hawaii. Delineation of all habitat boundaries was conducted with the image scale at 1:6,000 or less. This ensures that the level of detail produced by the photo interpreter is uniform throughout the project.The minimum mapping unit (MMU) for identifying habitats or features was 1 acre or less. The software utilized in this project was designed to alert the photo interpreter each time a polygon was drawn smaller than the a MMU of 1 acre. When this occurred the photo interpreter has the choice whether to include the polygon in the data set. Only in areas where local coral reef managers expressed interest in specific map classes or in Marine Protected Areas or for areas of land were polygons of smaller then the MMU allowed.

All mapping was conducted from ortho-rectified IKONOS and Quick Bird satellite imagery provided by BAE prior to map production. IKONOS and Quick Bird satellite imagery was corrected for atmospheric and water column effects, color balanced, pan sharpened and deglinted. During the digitizing process, image stretches and manipulating image contrast, brightness and color balance were performed in the ArcView Image Analysis Extension to enhance features in the processed imagery.GIS topologic quality was established by executing ArcView extension routines that check for: overlapping polygons, multipart polygons, sliver polygons and void polygons. Additionally checks for adjacent polygons with the same habitat attributes were completed. All errors were identified and corrected. This file is believed to be logically consistent.